QUEBEC - The Quebec government has an opening contract offer for its employees -- and it's nowhere near what they are asking for.

The Charest government has offered a combined seven per cent increase in salaries and benefits over five years -- which is a fraction of the unions' demand of 11.25 per cent, in salary increases alone, over three years.

Provincial employees see their contract run out next March 31, and their salaries account for more than half of the province's total budget.

Quebec has a history of long and acrimonious labour disputes with public-sector employees -- particularly amid the economic turmoil of the early 1980s and the deficit-cutting era in the 1990s.

The government says its offer is worth $2.3 billion in expenses over five years, and pegs the cost of union demands at $8 billion.

Union bosses deny that figure and say their requests amount to $3.2 billion over three years.

The head of the Confederation of National Trade Unions, one of the labour groups involved, says the sides are very far apart but he calls the government offer a starting point.